First Jnan Amar Polo Challenge

On Saturday 27th April 2013, the Jnan Amar Polo Resort of Marrakech will be hosting its first Polo Challenge: a fundraiser exhibition match for the Eve Branson Foundation, and the first private polo event to take place in Morocco. POLO+10 is attending the venue and will report live from Morocco.

The Jnan Amar Polo Resort is an integral luxury facility located just twenty kilometers from Marrakech. In the heart of this resort, we can find the Jnan Amar Polo Club Marrakech, that will offer a full service clubhouse, a polo academy, and an equestrian centre with spectacular features, world-class facilities carefully designed to meet the higher polo standards. The club also offers tennis courts and paddocks. This Polo Club is just a part of a major development which will nest a 5-star hotel, a full-service spa, and several restaurants, in addition to more than eighty full-ownership branded villas.

The two polo fields of the resort have been built with the expertise of Santa María Polo Club. Patrick Guerrand-Hermès, the french entrepreneur and former president of the Federation of International Polo has been living in Morocco since decades and will provide the polo ponies for the exhibition match.

A selected group of international players has been invited for this event: Fred Mannix, Mariano Uranga, Santiago Novillo Astrada, Federico Boudou and Ignacio Tejerina. In addition, some members of the Moroccan Royal Guard, Sgt Ahmed Bentaib and Lt Sidi Mohamed El Mhamdi. The exhibition is auspiced by the Royal Morocco Polo Federation, and received the High Patronage of His Majesty The King Mohamed VI.

Quoting Jnan Amar’s owner, Amar Abdelhadi: „Our dream of developing a state-of-the-art Polo Club integrated in a high-end resort that enhances the tourism landscape of vibrant Marrakech is coming to life. We are proud to make this event happen, we are able to introduce our resort to the world and the exciting sport of Polo to Morocco, as well as, through the alliance with the Eve Branson Foundation, to help develop the local communities that surround us“.

The mission of the Eve Branson Foundation, founded by Sir Richard Branson on behalf of his mother, is to improve the lifes of women and young girls in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The Foundation gives them access to educational opportinities, vocational training, work space, tools and other resources to create marketable goods. Regarding the polo challenge, Ms. Eve Branson said: „I am very pleased to finally bring together my enjoyment of the sport of Polo and my dedication to enhancing lives in the impoverished local communities in the High Atlas. How fitting that our partnership with Jnan Amar has enabled our first polo fundraising to be held with the gorgeous view of the High Atlas Mountains, where our foundation is working.“

The weekend of 26-28th April will also host several polo and social activities such as lunches, black-tie galas, an auction and a female rider’s Fantasia, among others. Attendees will be a group of VIPs including the Branson Family and supporters of the Foundation, people from Morocco, UK, USA, and the Middle East.